I’ve fallen and I can’t get up, maybe I can but it’s hard to! OR I’m falling and it seems like I can’t STOP!

I have received numerous phone calls in the last two weeks and I feel the need to write again. I will be doing a few notes in the next few days that will talk about our fallen brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ and what our response should be versus what are response has been. Also, I will write a note or two to my brothers and sisters who are in a fallen or falling state. So please leave comments and encouragement to our brothers and sisters and also maybe someone will read this that does not know about this AWESOME God that we serve. EVEN IN OUR FALLEN STATE, HE STILL LOVES US! ———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

Galatians 6: 1- 3 (New Living Translation)

1 Dear brothers and sisters, if another Christian is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. 2 Share each other’s troubles and problems, and in this way obey the law of Christ. 3 If you think you are too important to help someone in need, you are only fooling yourself. You are really a nobody.

I don’t know if you remember the commercials in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s where this line was spoken….I’ve fallen and I can’t get up! This line was a commercial for a medical alarm and protection company called LIFE CALL.

If you subscribed to this system, you would receive a pendant which, when activated, would put you in IMMEDIATE contact with a dispatch service without having to use the telephone.

When this commercial aired it displayed this elderly woman laying on the floor shouting, “Help me, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!”

If you were anything like me when I first saw the commercial, well let me go ahead and be honest, every time I saw the commercial I laughed. This commercial was a real joke to me.

However, as I have listened to people who have called me, emailed me, and text messaged me in the last two weeks about their fallen and falling condition, this commercial and it’s message no longer became a joking matter to me.

The bottom line is when someone falls, it isn’t a joke, matter a fact it hurts so bad, you should feel like you have fallen also. There are people who are falling and have fallen in this spiritual walk with God and feel like they can’t get themselves up in their own strength.

Like LIFE CALL some of our brothers and sisters need us like the dispatcher to come to their rescue and help them get up from this fallen position. And when we can’t come to their rescue we still can dispatch God to the seen, cause He always get’s there quicker then we can anyway!

So I want to share a story with you, and let me know what you have to say after you have read it:

A pastor a few years ago became involved in adultery. As a result, his marriage went on the rocks & his the ministry God entrusted to him was falling apart. He was a strong leader in the community and the people started to look at him differently and it began to have devastating results.

His sin, not only affected him & his family, but his church split into small fragments where hurting and confused people were scattered all over the city. After this the pastor resigned, even though God called him, the people made it uncomfortable for him to continue to do what God has called him to do. (Now mind you, the people in the church had sin in their lives, that wasn’t exposed….YET)

So the man of God left and worked on restoring his marriage for 2 years, it didn’t work. So he got married again.

So he called a new pastor, in the city where he once pastored, on one Saturday night, and asked him, “Would you mind if my wife and I came to your church to fellowship with you and the saints in the morning?”

The pastor (who didn’t even know him, but knew of his circumstances – because you know people talk in the city) said, “Why would you ever call me & ask me that question? Of course we wouldn’t mind if you came to Church.”

The fallen pastor said, “You know this is my second wife & I’m divorced from my first wife. Are you aware of this?”

The Pastor said, “I am well aware of your situation.” The fallen pastor said, “We’ve been trying for eight months now to find a place of worship. The last time that we tried was a month ago. We were asked from the pulpit by one of my pastor friends (one who knew him) to leave.”

He went on to say, “We’ve been met at the door of other churches by pastor’s I know (pastors he has preached for, pastors he has broke bread with, pastors he has prayed for when they were in their mess, pastors who when they needed a friend, he came in their time of need), who heard that we were coming. They asked us not to come in. They said that it would cause too much trouble.”

The fallen pastor said, “Frankly, I don’t think that we could handle it again if we were asked to leave. My wife is close to a nervous breakdown.” He said, “I know that you have an overflow section at your church. If you want you can put us in that room where no one will see us and let us watch the service from the big screen television. We just need to be in Church!

The pastor said, “Listen friend (one who doesn’t know him, calls him friend), you be at church and I will welcome you at the front door and escort you personally to your reserved seats.”

This fallen pastor came to this church & they extended to him Christian Fellowship and God did a cleansing and a healing.

This man of God and his wife were RESTORED only because God used this church to LOVE, ACCEPT and FORGIVE Him.

If the Church is going to be the force for God in this hurting and confused world that it needs to be, it must learn to love people, accept them and forgive them. Because the truth of the matter is that is EXACTLY what He did for us!

Side Note for some people- Please don’t misunderstand me. I am not saying that we should condone lifestyles that are contrary to God, sin is sin and it is something that we should not take lightly, but we do however need to love people where they are at. 2nd Corinthians 5:16 – 21 (New Living Translation) says:

16 So we have stopped evaluating others by what the world thinks about them. Once I mistakenly thought of Christ that way, as though he were merely a human being. How differently I think about him now! 17 What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!18 All this newness of life is from God, who brought us back to himself through what Christ did. And God has given us the task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. This is the wonderful message he has given us to tell others. 20 We are Christ’s ambassadors, and God is using us to speak to you. We urge you, as though Christ himself were here pleading with you, “Be reconciled to God!” 21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

A WORD TO LAZARUS

I come today to speak to Lazarus, whether it is you individually or a group of you…But Lazarus listen up:

In John 11, Lazarus became sick and his sister’s sent a word to Jesus. But it appeared as if Jesus was taking His time. Lazarus is now dead and Jesus still hasn’t shown up!

Now, Lazarus was stone cold dead for four days when Jesus first visited his tomb. Hope was gone. People were mourning his passing. The brother had been dead so long that he even stunk. It was then that Jesus took control over the situation and called the dead man back to life. Lazarus immediately came out of the tomb in spite of his having been dead, in spite of his odor, in spite of the grave clothes, and in spite of the doubters! (Be mindful that he still had grave clothes on that had to be SPOKEN to and told to let him go)

People had written Lazarus off as being past history, but Jesus quickly made him current events!

We have a generation of teens and young adults out here who are dead — entombed — in their trespasses and sins. Most believe hope is pretty well gone for them.

But nonetheless, Jesus is about to visit the graveyard once again.

And when He does He is going to cry, “Lazarus COME FORTH!” When He cries out, He is going to breathe resurrection power into the lives of a whole generation of young people! As with Lazarus, they are going to come alive in a moment — complete with the trappings of their old life of death still wrapped around them! These people are going to have an intensity and boldness for the Lord that will put many of the older saints to shame!

This call is to the Lazarus Remnant who will answer! You and or this group will be a militant group of young people who are completely sold out and radical for God.

1. THIS REMNANT WILL LOVE THE TRUTH MORE THAN LIFE

2. THIS REMNANT WILL LOVE GOD AND SO KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS

3. THIS REMNANT WILL BE PASSIONATE IN PRAISE AND WORSHIP

4. THIS REMNANT WILL SEEK HOLINESS AND SANCTIFICATION AT ALL COSTS

5. THE UNITY OF THIS REMNANT WILL BE SO REMARKABLE THAT THE WORLD WILL BELIEVE IN JESUS AND THAT GOD SENT HIM

6. THIS REMNANT WILL DEPEND ON GOD COMPLETELY FOR DIRECTION AND PROVISION

7. THIS REMNANT WILL LOOK TO THE THINGS WHICH ARE UNSEEN

8. THE REMNANT WILL SHUN THE THINGS OF THE WORLD

9. THIS REMNANT WILL BE MOVED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD AND DENY THE WORKS OF THE FLESH.

10. THE REMNANT WILL DO GREATER WORKS THAN JESUS DID

11. THIS REMNANT WILL WALK IN POWER AND AUTHORITY AND BE VICTORIOUS IN ALL THEY SET OUT TO DO

LAZARUS ………COME FORTH!!!!……IN THE NAME OF JESUS!

P.S. Now check this out Lazarus, in the next chapter (John 12:10), the religious people are even going to hate on you because of your connection with Jesus and your TOTAL deliverance and freedom from the things of death! (Don’t worry Lazarus, God’s got that too!)

ISN’T IT SOMETHING

Isn’t it something that when you study scripture, you find out that God usually worked through people who were the most unlikely! Look at:

- Abraham lied on his wife saying that it was his sister
- Moses killed a man
- David slept with another man’s wife and had that man killed
- Jonah ran from God, but still got the job done after he said YES to God
- Miriam was a gossip
- Rahab was a prostitute
- Gideon and Thomas doubted
- Noah got drunk
- Samson slept around
- Jacob was a liar
- Jeremiah was depressed and cried all the time
- Solomon was rich in wisdom but poor in lifestyle
- Elijah got depressed and suicidal
- Sarah was barren
- Naomi was a widow
- Paul was a murderer
- James and John were self-righteous
- Peter denied Christ
- LAZARUS WAS DEAD

OK NOW FOR A PRAISE BREAK ————————–————

LOOK AT YOU ….. He still uses you!

Note: for those of you, who said that you are a mess and God can’t use you yet, go back up to the top and read it again…You have no excuse!…Give your life to Him (Him being Christ)

He doesn’t have to call the qualified, He qualifies the called!

TAKEN

As I sat and watched this movie, I couldn’t believe how into this movie I’d become. This movie by far is one of the greatest movies ever.

It wasn’t until a few days later that I began to really think about this movie and got excited when I could preach the movie. (You know a preacher is always trying to find something in everything to preach)

You have this spoiled little girl Kim who is about 17 years old and she had this father Bryan, who was an ex-CIA agent who was trying his best to establish a relationship with his daughter.

But Kim had this mother Lenore who was married to some rich guy named Stuart, and Lenore wanted her daughter to have the best of everything. So Kim and her mother wanted to meet with Bryan to discuss with him an opportunity for Kim to go to Paris with her friend Amanda and that they needed his parental consent. Now even though Kim lived with her mother, who apparently had custody of her, and this rich man who could have probably used his finances to charter a private jet, they still had to go to the father to get his consent.

Now, the father had some hesitation about this idea, because of the knowledge he had of some of the areas of Paris. Kim tries to explain to her father that she will be with Amanda and her cousins and that they will be visiting museums and that they will be ok. But the father tells her that he will think about it and Kim took that response as a no and got upset.

But because the father wanted to establish a relationship with his child, he signed the consent form, but he had some rules that needed to be adhered to. He said that he needed to take her to the airport, he gave her an international cell phone and said that she is to call when she lands in Paris and that she is to call him and give him the address and phone numbers of places that she would be sleeping at. So Kim is happy again and hugging on her father and smiling and running away excited about the trip.

The father takes the daughter to the airport and when they get the luggage out the car, the father sees a map with all these different cities circled on it and he confronts the mother who then tells him that the daughter and her friend are going to follow U2’s European tour and not just stay in Paris. Now because it’s to late the trip has to go on even though the father was tricked.

The girls get to the French Airport and they meet a boy named Peter, who convinces them, after he takes their picture, to share a cab ride. Peter gets the cab to drop the girls off first, to see where they live and then after they go in, Peter makes a phone call that announces, there are some new girls in town.

So now Amanda and Kim go up to the floor they were staying on and Amanda talks about Peter and how cute he is and asked Kim didn’t she want to sleep with him and Kim responded that she was still a virgin and Amanda responded, that there is no better place to lose your virginity than in Paris.

Bryan is now concerned because he hasn’t heard from his child, of whom he left the instructions to call when you arrived. So he called his child on the phone that he provided, but because the music was too loud she missed the phone call. (She missed the phone call from her father because it was too much noise!)

Kim finally recognized that she had missed a call from her father, and she called him. But, because Amanda was still listening to the music, she had to go to another area to hear the conversation with her father.

Kim is now talking with her father, and she notices on the other side that Amanda is being kidnapped. She tells her father, and because he knows about this type of thing, he tells his daughter what to do. He tells her to go into a bedroom and go under the bed and he tells her to calm down because he had to tell her that she was about to be taken.

So he tells her that when she gets taken to start to yell everything that she sees and hears. The men come into the room and start speaking in a foreign language and then leave. Kim then tells her father, “I think they left”. (I was like, girl …no they are not, because I seen the preview and you are about to get got! Nothing like a preview)

So Kim gets taken, and the kidnapper picks up her phone and just begins to breath in the phone ……and the father says “I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what you want. If you are looking for ransom I can tell you I don’t have money. BUT what I do have are a very particular set of skills. SKILLS I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that will be the end of it, but if you don’t I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you!! and the kidnapper then replies…GOOD LUCK !

Now because I am tired of typing and I know you are probably tired of reading let me say this – What the father said was so AWESOME to me .

Every now and then when we are confronted with a enemy who has stolen something from us we need to let them know every now and then that the hell you been through, the things God has allowed you to go through was just giving you a set of skills that makes you a nightmare!

Let that enemy know, I know you took something that belongs to me, and I am going to locate it and when I do, I am going to get it, but in the process you have got to die, so you can’t ever mess with me or my family again! Just remember you have a SET OF SKILLS! Don’t back down, you go fight!

In the end, check this out….The daughter wanted to be a singer and her father already had the contacts to introduce her too! So every now and then we just have to trust that the Father has everything we have need of, sometimes we have just got to be patient!

P.S. Please leave a comment or two – Feel free to revelate..

TIME TO BE PURIFIED – PART II

The following is the second part to TIME TO BE PURIFIED. (Sorry t took so long) DISCLAIMER: I understand that it is lengthy, but I had to put it all in so I wouldn’t have to do a part three. I believe that there is a call for God’s people to begin to walk in HOLINESS and RIGHTEOUSNESS. So I hope you enjoy, but most of all I hope that it challenges you to run into ALL that Christ Jesus has for you and I.

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Zechariah 13:1-9

1 In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. 2 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land. 3 And it shall come to pass, that when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of the LORD: and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth. 4 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he hath prophesied; neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive: 5 But he shall say, I am no prophet, I am an husbandman; for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth. 6 And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.

7 Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones. 8 And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. 9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God. (/i>

Looking at this text we can see the following:

I. GOD WANTS TO CLEANSE US (v. 1-6)

I once knew a boy who hated to take a bath (ME!). I would go for days without soap and water, except for a a splash every now and then. I would go into the bathroom and I would turn on the water, rub some on the soap, and then turn it off and wait for a reasonable amount of time before my exit, declaring that I had taken a bath—even though I never even took off my clothes!

But how do you clean up the inside? Zechariah tells us in vs. 1-6.

First, he explains God provides the water for our cleansing.. This is no man-made means fountain—God provides the water for this bath.

But also notice the fountain is the means of cleansing His people from sin and uncleanness. This fountain is not just for decoration—it’s for removing the dirt of guilt, and the filth of sinful desires.
Both of these ideas tell us that God desires to cleanse His people from anything and everything that soils their souls. He is not satisfied with people who walk around with dirty hands, dirty hearts, dirty minds. He wants them clean. But He also provides the water that will cleanse them.

Zechariah goes on to describe what happens when His people come to the fountain for cleansing in vs. 2-6: they will get clean. In vs. 2 He specifically mentions 2 specific areas Israel would be cleansed: false religion and filthy hearts.

Idolatry was rampant, prophets claiming to speak for God were everywhere preaching lies. But in that day the idols would be forever forgotten (I will cut off the names of the idols from the land), and false prophets would become extinct (through drastic means, if necessary, read vs. 3, where parents execute their own kids, vs. 4-6 where they’d rather be a farmer than a prophet !).

God is not pleased when our lives are full of uncleanness—hearts full of lust, greed, jealousy, pride. He desires purity in our hearts. Pure devotion to Him, not the idolatry of worshiping money, or pleasure. Pure devotion to His truth, not allowing false teaching to corrupt our thinking. That may seem almost impossible to you. God desires purity.

God offers us His cleansing power. God offers us the means to live clean lives. He has opened the fountain so you and I can be cleansed from sin and uncleanness.

We have the fountain of Christ’s blood to cleanse us from the guilt of our sins.

1 John 1:9- If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

There is no sin you have committed or will commit that God has not provided cleansing for through Christ.

We also have the cleansing power of God’s Word.

Ephesians 5:26-27 – 26that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

As you and I fill our minds with God’s Word, obey His Word, He cleanses us from sinful habits and attitudes. Memorizing God’s Word is one of the best ways to defeat temptation in your life. The more you will your mind and heart with God’s Word, the cleaner your heart, mind, and life will be.

Psalm 119:11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.

But we must want to be cleansed. Many people are just like me when I was younger when I never wanted to take a bath—they live dirty lives. They may spray on a little extra deodorant to keep the smell down, or wash their hands every now and then, but their lives are grimy with guilt, sinful habits and attitudes.

2 Corinthians 7:1 – Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Do you need cleansing?

II. GOD WANTS TO REFINE US (v. 7-9)

One day a missionaryl, who devoted her life to minister to young girls in India took some of her children to see a goldsmith refining gold. The man sat beside a small charcoal fire. On top of the coals lay a common red curved roof-tile, and another tile over it like a lid. This was his homemade crucible. He dropped a lump of ore into the blistering mixture and let the fire “eat it.” After awhile, the man lifted the gold out with a pair of tongs, let it cool, and studied it. Then he replaced the gold in the crucible and blew the fire hotter than it was before. This process went on and on, the fire growing hotter and hotter. As the children watched the gold being purified in the fire, someone asked the man, “How do you know when the gold is purified?” The man’s answer: “When I can see my face in it [the liquid gold in the crucible], then it is pure.”*

If I could sum up what the Lord Jesus Christ is doing in your life, my life, the life of every one of His children, this would be it: He is working to refine us until we reflect back His image.

The NIV translation puts it like this in

2 Corinthians 3:18 – But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

But how does He accomplish this refining?

Zechariah mentions some very interesting means of God’s refining.

Through the stricken Shepherd. In some way, the death of the Shepherd is part of the refining process. Another element of refining is Through the remnant. 2/3 of the people will die, leaving only a remnant to survive. In some way God’s refining process involves not multiplication, but subtraction.

Through restoration of the relationship. The result of the refining will be a restoration of a right relationship with God. They will call—He will answer. He will call them His people—they will call Him their God.

what vs. 9 is all about: I will…refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested…God’s refining involves turning up the heat of suffering, removing everything except for our faith in Him, bringing us back to the place where our faith in the Lord is purified, where all the dross is removed, and our relationship with Him is made stronger—until He sees His reflection in your heart and in your life.

1 Peter 1:6-7 6 – In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

All of God’s saints go through periods of refining. Abraham had his time on the mountain, holding a knife above his only son, ready to sacrifice him to the Lord. Joseph was refined in a pit, as a slave, then as a prisoner of Pharaoh. We all know about the fiery refining of Job, and the suffering of Peter and Paul.
Now it’s your turn. God wants to refine us. The question is: do we want Him to refine us?

If you think like me you say to God—I don’t like to hurt.

I don’t like the idea of losing anything or anybody I have-much less everything I have.

My flesh is to try and avoid as much fuss and bother and pain as possible.

I have no idea how expensive it is for gold or silver to be refined. I do know that until the metal is refined, it’s not much use.

It cost God a lot for our refinement. His Shepherd had to be struck–His Son had to die. It will cost you a lot to allow God to refine you, but always remember -

“It’s good for us to remember that God is not an arsonist; He’s a refiner.”

What’s the difference between an arsonist and a refiner? An arsonist uses heat to destroy; a refiner uses fire to purify. God does not use pain or hardship to destroy you, but to refine you- to purify and refine you until He sees His reflection in your life.

Purity is important to God. Is it that important to you? Are you willing to pray for God’s cleansing, for God’s refining in your life? Are you willing to ask God to purify you, and continue to purify you all your life?

God desires for us to be pure; we ought to desire to be pure.

TIME TO BE PURIFIED

Well I have been away from the blog scene for awhile, and as I was thinking about a few things, I remembered a story told by Dr. James Dobson’s where he told a story of a family where the rule was nobody in the family could go and see “R” rated movies. However, there where three sons who came to their father of this family and requested permission to go see this “R” rated movie that was a hit on the big screen. They presented their case to the father by saying that the down side to this movie was that there were three swear words, only one violent scene and that the one sex scene in the movie was not that serious because you couldn’t see the couple in the movie having sex. They told their father that the upside to giving them permission to see this movie was because it was a popular movie, everyone was seeing it, it was a good story with a great plot, this movie would probably be nominated for several awards, and lastly they said that many of the church members saw it and said that it wasn’t that bad.

The father listened to their excitement and asked for a day to think about it before making his decision.

The next evening, the father called his three sons into the living room. On the coffee table he had a plate of brownies. He told them he had decided that they would eat a brownie then he would let them go to the movie. But before they did, just like the movie, the brownies had ups and downs. The ups: they were made with the finest chocolate and walnuts. The brownies were moist and fresh with wonderful chocolate frosting on top. He had made these fantastic brownies using an award-winning recipe. And best of all, the brownies had been made lovingly by the hand of their own father.

The brownies only had one down. He included a little bit of a special ingredient-just a little bit of “dog droppings” But he had mixed the mix well — they probably would not even be able to taste the extra ingredient, and he had baked it at 350 degrees so any bacteria or germs had probably been destroyed.

Therefore, if any one of his sons would eat the brownies he felt they would be able to see the movie with “just a little bit of smut” and not be affected.

How many brownies do you suppose they ate? How many would you have eaten?

Purity is important when it comes to food; It doesn’t take much filth to ruin good brownies. When it comes to food, we don’t want any “extra ingredients”- we want purity.

When it comes to your heart, God doesn’t like any “extra ingredients.” He desires purity. He has a passion for purity in His people, and He wants you and I to share that passion for purity in our own hearts.

A lesson while in the air

Last week I was getting ready for my trip to the ATL. I was really excited about having the opportunity to leave the city (old place) to travel to Atlanta, Georgia (new place).

I prepared myself by packing my luggage, checking to see what the weather was going to be (by the way it is suppose to snow 1 – 3 inches tomorrow…I could have stayed in Ohio for that mess), and making sure that I had everything that I needed for this trip…..I WAS PREPARED

I got up that morning and one of my son’s took me to the airport so I could catch my flight …..I SHOWED UP

I arrived at the airport in enough time so I wouldn’t miss my flight….. I WAS ON TIME

I was sitting on this plane saying God I am glad that You allowed me to be prepared for this trip You told me I could go on, I am thankful that you woke me up so I could show up and be on time so I could go on this trip You told me I could go on. God I am even excited that the pane took off with no problems…….

Now here is my lesson………I was so excited when the pilot came over the intercom and said we are going to prepare for our descent into Atlanta because we have arrived!!!!! So prepare yourself for landing………….So as I was getting more excited about getting ready to land, something weird happened ….The plane, instead of decreasing, it increased in altitude and tilted as if we were now going in another direction….

I am tripping now…….we started to circle Atlanta FOUR times before we began the descent we started 25 minutes prior! Then after waiting in the air 25 minutes, even though I was over the place that I was suppose to be , we began to descend and FINALLY we landed.

Before I got off the plane I asked the pilot, who was telling us thanks for flying Delta (you know I had to ask), why did we have to circle Atlanta in the air so many times? His response was:

There were four other planes that had to have clearance to land before we did. They had delayed departures from there cities and they had to land as quickly as possible to get back on schedule for the sake of the other people who are waiting for takeoff!

So I got excited that even though some people are delayed in takeoff, God does His thing by getting us back on schedule for other people. Also, I thank God that He knows about the other planes in the air, because if I would have had my way we would have landed soon as we got over Atlanta…..but that would have caused a CRASH with another plane that had CLEARANCE!

So even though you were prepared, showed up on time , every now and then we might have to circle around the place God told us to go to and land just so other people He told the same thing to can land first….THE PROMISE IS YOU ARE GOING TO GET THERE He didn’t say how long it would be before you do.

WHY?

I was wondering this question last night……….

We got people who wouldn’t smoke or pass a blunt while the preacher is preaching in church but we go home or hang with our friends and smoke and pass the blunt while we are in church

We wouldn’t have sex in the pews (some of us) at church, but go home and have sex while in church

We wouldn’t come to youth night and pop in a porno in church, but we would go over to our friends and spend the night and watch a porno in church

We are more careful what we say at church and when we leave the building we say anything we want to while still in church …..

What is my point you ask….Church never let’s out! We give the building more respect and honor then we do the building that His church is really in…..US!!

Think about it

DON’T JUMP THE GUN!

You are preparing for the race of your life and I want you to know this:1) You might be on the right track

2) You are in the right race of your life

3) You may even be in the right lane of the race for your life

But I want to point out something very important adn you must remember this as you get ready to race….

4) YOU HAVE GOT TO WAIT!

DO NOT jump the gun……if you do, it is considered a FALSE START!

If you jump the gun more than twice, you will be disqualified from the race and didn’t even get to run the race!

WHATEVER YOU DO IN 2008, DON’T JUMP THE GUN!

MOVE ONLY WHEN GOD SAYS MOVE! DON’T GET AHEAD OF GOD!

You can be the fastest, the most talented, the most gifted, the most trained, and you still can lose the race because you left to soon!

So my brothers and sisters, ask yourself the question..Am I doing anything in this race for my destiny that God would consider jumping the gun?

P.S. If you on a track, in a race, in a lane that is not your race, IT IS NOT TO LATE for you to leave that race, and go get trained for the race God has already designed for you to WIN!!

BE BLESSED Y’ALL

2008

 

Well I have been praying and reading…reading and praying asking God what is in store for His people in 2008 and I believe this is what He said:2008 is the year of the INTERCESSOR

Prayer will be your KEY in 2008. Your prayer life will give you the jump on things.

Your job will be that of an INTERCESSOR! You are to portray to God the true intentions of others even though their presentation is off.

God is going to assign a person or a group of people to you that you are to intercede for in 2008…Keep this person or people lifted up daily in prayer.

You will be God’s SECRET SERVICE for His people. They won’t even know that you are praying for them, and speaking the things in their lives that God will show you.

This is not the year that you will just PRAY for yourself. God is calling you to CALL THOSE things that are not as though they already are in the lives of others.

2008 will also be a year for those who are pregnant with assignments from God. If you are going to do anything, THIS is the year to put it out there and know this that your assignment WILL finance itself!

This is the year that you are going to break records that you set for yourself. Make sure you set the goals that you can reach and let God SUPERCEDE it!

God is going to anoint your eyes to see potential opportunities. He will sharpen your ability to hear His voice.

This is not the year for you to do what you want to do
This is not the year for you to start searching for stuff
This is not the year for you to become selfish

God is trying to use you to release His GLORY in the earth!

In 2008 DO NOT acknowledge anyone or anything that is trying to STOP you because the truth is THAT THEY CAN’T!!

The anointing that God wants you to carry in ’08, is an anointing that TAKES AUTHORITY over every demonic force, principality, every dark place in your life and the lives of others.

This anointing is not for you to get! This anointing is for you to empower God’s people!
Silver and gold have you none, but that which you do have tell the lame to walk, the blind to see, the captive to be free, the sick to be healed!….That is the anointing God wants you to walk in!

The reason you went through so much in 2007 is because God gave him a glimpse of your 2008, so he tried to take out as many as he could by getting them to go back to their former life so you couldn’t walk in this awesome year of MANIFESTATION OF HIM and not stuff!

He let you go through all of this so people connected to you wouldn’t have to!

GEAR UP IN 2008! THERE IS A BATTLE THAT WE NEED TO WIN! THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT WE ARE NOT FIGHTING ALONE……GOD IS OUR HELPER AND WE WILL WIN!

BECAUSE YOU WILL ACCEPT THIS ASSIGNMENT YOU ARE ENTITLED TO KNOW A SECRET THAT ONLY THE PEOPLE WHO ACCEPT THIS ASSIGNMENT WILL KNOW:

Because you will be faithful to your assignment in getting to know Me and not people, because you will get other people to know me, because you will sacrifice your life to walk in POWER and AUTHORITY, because you will declare those things that I will show you, because you will keep your self in purity, righteousness and holiness, I want to share with you a secret of 2008 that people will over look……….2008 is a leap year which means you get an EXTRA DAY! A DAY THAT NORMALLY WOULDN’T BE THERE!

I will give you extra because you are walking in your assignment …..Things that wouldn’t normally be there, I will reveal to you!

I will make the business manifest
I will reveal to you help meet (you don’t have to go chase them)
I will reveal to you the treasures I have stored up for you
I will show you some extra stuff
I will open doors for you that ONLY I could do
I will release things into your life because you are only seeking My wisdom and My knowledge
I will do things that will have people confounded
I will use you like never before

And because this is a leap year, you will move forward so rapidly that you won’t even understand how you got there. Just know that it is Me! Give me what I request of you and I will give you more than you could even imagine…

I want YOU, I don’t want to share you with anyone, anything, any place! I want you all to Myself. Get closer to me in 2008 and watch how close I will get to you!

Now if you choose to do things your way, understand that you won’t be entitled to this SECRET because this outpouring is reserved for my people in 2008!

I hope you will submit your body unto Me and let me take you on the JOURNEY that I have designed for you in this NEW YEAR. Everything you do in 2008 ASK ME FIRST!

I hope that you don’t try to do things your own way in 2008 because I have what’s best for you…Go to my Word in John 2:1 – 10 and know this…. that in 2008 IT IS ALREADY DONE!!

- The wine left Jesus and then got to them (I already have what you desire done but it has got to leave GLORY to get to you)

- The groom found out about the best wine after everyone else did (Some people will taste it before you do, but know this …IT’S COMING YOUR WAY)

1. Something better came after what they had ran out (What they thought was the best wasn’t)

- What you won’t get rid of, I will let it run out FIRST
- When Jesus was approached all the mother ask for was for more not better
- He gave better than what the groom could afford

2008 I will wait on you to pour out what you have so I can give you BETTER!

2. Six water pots that could have held 18 to 30 gallons a piece – THAT IS A LOT OF WINE THAT WAS TOUCHED BY ME!

- The reception lasted for a day but the feast lasted a week

I am going to give you more in 2008 for what you WILL NEED versus what you need for the moment. I am going to release EXCESS in your life….so others can enjoy the FEAST with you!

3. Reversing the situation, usually put the best out first, but Jesus reversed the order!!

- When you reverse NOW you get WON…..KNOW THAT IN 2008 I HAVE ALREADY GIVEN YOU THE VICTORY!

So in 2008 I have much in store for you.

I can’t wait to use you in 2008! This is the year for the people who will talk to me and listen and do when I respond! Because if you don’t talk to me then listen and do, you will run out of wine also because you won’t know who is attending, how much to give them to drink, and when to announce that you don’t have to drink it all today because the feast last a long time!

Don’t let your water pot get empty in 2008! Because what I have in store for you in 2008 IS NOT FOR YOU but for those around you! You take care of MY people and I will take care of you!